This situation is very different.

In this situation there is no country to defeat. There is no centralized structure. It's not like fighting an elephant, it's like fighting a lot of ants.

Get out and take our drones, and our troops, and our financial aid with us.

Let's focus on using US money to fix US problems.

Islam demands hatred, and death, to all infidels. They will never be our friends. The mid-east is a no-win situation.

> That strategy would likely work to stop the illegal immigration from Mexico as well.

Hey here's a novel idea: why not use US money to fix US problems first? How about paying off our national debt first *then* worry about our neighbors?

The US is beyond bankrupt. The US is trillions in debt. The US credit rating is being degraded. And we are supposed to help other nations first?

> Darn few people turn violent when they've got families who are reasonably safe and an acceptable standard of living that they aren't in too much fear of losing.

Pure bullshit. Boston bombers? John Walker? Fort Hood Slayer? I could go right down the line. Osama bin Laden was worth several million.

You just don't understand Islam.

Besides, if we have truckloads of money to burn, why not spend it on health care for Americans? Or improved education? Or paying of our staggering debt.

> Little green pieces of paper they can feed to their camels?

They can do the same things with money that you, or I, can do. Buy goods and services - but not military grade weapons - at least, not for the US government.

> Happy, contented people don't become terrorists.

Boston bombers? Osama bin Laden? Fort Hood Slayer? John Walker?

These people had absolutely no reason not to be content. They were comfortable, plenty of money for what they needed. Nobody was threatening them.

You either do not understand Islam, or you act like you don't.

Glad to learn that. I thought everybody, except me, was cheering "Arab Spring."

Much of the mid-east in drenched in oil. But what good does it do the common people? There is enormous poverty in Saudi, while a few billionaires enjoy all the money that comes gushing out of ground, and most of the population is dirt poor.

If the US sent money there, it would be grabbed by the leaders. That is what happened in Iraq.

Besides, how about using those trucks of money to help fix poverty in the US? You know, the country that has 50 million people who cannot afford health care? The country that is drowning in debt?

As I said, we supported Sadam also. They were the "good guys" at the time.

Remember how we cheered "Arab Spring?"

As I understand it, even Kuwait hates us now. So why do we do it?

Involvement in the mid-east is a guaranteed no-win situation.

Besides, how is it our business? Other than buying their oil, what business is it of ours?

I think we should remove our embassies as well - the embassies only serve as targets for those crazies.

You are making the classic mistake of fighting the last war.

These are not the 1930s or 1940s. We are not fighting countries but loosely connected groups.

There is no way to win in the middle-east. Any involvement just makes us the bad guy.

Small wonder Americans are not interested.

If Americans are soooo stupid and lazy then why does the US have *way* more than it's share of substantial inventions? We are practically all major tech companies started in the US - by people educated in the US. Why are foreign students breaking their necks to get into US universities?

No troops, no money, no sanctions, no weapons sales, nothing. Not to any mid-east country, including Israel.

Just buy their oil, and that's it. What other business do we have there? Let the chips fall where they may.

Why is the US putting itself in the middle of their ancient, perpetual, non-sensicle, squabbles?

I hate to say it, but: let the crazies kill each other, if that's what they want to do. They have been doing it forever, and US presence only gives them somebody else to blame.

  All those lives, all of those trillions of dollars, for what? We are no safer from terrorism. In fact, we may be more at risk.

Help one tribe, and you piss off another. Never fails. The "good guys" one day, are despotic leaders, and US haters the next. I think the US supported both Sadam, and Osama, at one point.

As the computer said in "War Games" : "The only way to win is to not play."

What makes you think that?

What makes you think that Microsoft spies on you any less than Google?

If you do think that, can you provide hard evidence?

That does not match my experience at all.

Seems to me that Microsoft goes to great lengths to hide everything from end users. Everything goes in that registry bit bucket.

When I google for something, I get a crap load of answers, most of them wrong.